A long-standing debate exists over which of the two Aladdin ports - one for SNES made by Capcom and one for Sega Genesis made by Virgin Games - is actually the better version. Game designer Shinji Mikami, who made the SNES version, actually claims the Genesis port is better:


Mikami cites other problems for the SNES port besides the lack of bladed weapons. The cover art also did not include the "Genie" character, who is the most iconic member of the cast. This upset a lot of fans of the movie. Mikami said:


According to Polygon and game director Dave Perry, who created the Genesis port of the game, the lack of Genie on the front cover could have had something to do with actor Robin Williams and his annoyance at the way Disney was using his character's likeness in promotional materials, such as video games:


Dave Perry was happy to hear about how Shinji Mikami felt about his port of the game. Ironically, his opinion was opposite of Mikami's about both Aladdin games:

In the Palace Dungeon level there are skulls wearing Mickey Mouse hats throughout the level.

In the "Inside the Lamp" level, there are a number of Genesis consoles that can be seen in the background throughout the level.

For the Genesis release, the animations for the game were hand-drawn by Disney's own animators who had been working on films at the time, which were created as linear animation (non-looping) in the style to which Disney films were then created. These animations were then traced using graph paper to create sprites, where the sprite artists then had to work out a means of making the animations loop smoothly.

According to Shinji Mikami, the developer of the game, the Super Nintendo box art originally featured the Genie on the front cover. However, Disney would not allow him to be featured on the front cover and he had to be moved to the back, in a much smaller image. Despite this, the Genie appeared on the front cover of the Genesis game.

Toward the beginning of the Desert level is a clothes line. Hanging from the line is a Mickey Mouse hat. If Aladdin performs his idle animation under the hat, it will result in a noise being made and a life appearing.

Sebastian from The Little Mermaid can be seen in shackles in the background of the Sultan's Dungeon level.

There is a picture of Goofy on one of the totem poles in the Desert level.